Surah al-A`raf (The Elevated Places) 7 : 46

Overview (Verses 46 - 49)

The Heights

At this juncture, the sūrah draws our attention to something additional painted in this scene. We see that the two camps are separated by a barrier over which stand some people who recognize the dwellers of heaven and the inmates of the fire by their looks and features. It is important to find out who these people are and what have they got to do with the two groups destined either for heaven or hell.

Between the two parties there will be a barrier, and on the Heights there will be men who recognize everyone by their looks. They will call out to the dwellers of paradise: “Peace be upon you” — not having entered it themselves, but longing still [to be there]. And whenever their eyes are turned towards the inmates of the fire, they will say: “Our Lord, do not place us alongside such wrongdoing people.” Then those on the Heights will call out to certain people whom they recognize by their looks, saying: “What have your great throngs and your false pride availed you? Are these the self- same people whom you swore that God would never show them mercy?” (Now they have been told,) “Enter Paradise. You have nothing to fear, nor will you grieve.” (Verses 46-49)

It has been reported that those people on the Heights which separate heaven and hell are human beings whose good deeds are equal in weight and measure to their bad ones. Hence, their good deeds are not enough to guarantee their admission into heaven, nor have their sins condemned them to the fire. They remain in between, waiting for God’s grace to be bestowed on them. They recognize the people of paradise by their looks, probably by the fact that their faces are white and bright, or by the light which accompanies them. They also recognize the people destined to the fire by their features, probably by their dark faces or the marks printed on their noses which they used to raise as a gesture of arrogance. The printing of this mark on their noses is mentioned in Sūrah 68, The Pen. They greet the people of heaven with the greeting of peace, clearly entertaining hope that God will bestow His mercy on them and admit them to heaven as well. When their eyes fall on the people of the fire, whom they are deliberately made to see, they plead to be spared their destiny.

Between the two parties there will be a barrier, and on the Heights there will be men who recognize everyone by their looks. They will call out to the dwellers of paradise: “Peace be upon you”, — not having entered it themselves, but longing still [to be there]. And whenever their eyes are turned towards the inmates of the fire, they will say: “Our Lord, do not place us alongside such wrongdoing people.” (Verses 46-47)

They then see some leading figures among the wrongdoing people and they recognize them by their features. They rebuke them for what they have been doing: “Then those on the Heights will call out to certain people whom they recognize by their looks, saying: ‘What have your great throngs and your false pride availed you?’” (Verse 48) You see now that you are in Hell, where your armies and great multitude are of no use to you, nor indeed are your arrogance and vain pride.

They remind them of what they used to say about the believers in this life, accusing them of being in error and that they would never be granted God’s mercy: “Are these the self-same people whom you swore that God would never show them mercy? (Now they have been told,) ‘Enter Paradise. You have nothing to fear, nor will you grieve.’” (Verse 49)